Deering, William

No.1928 Private William Deering - 11th Battalion AIF

William Deering was born in Glen Innes NSW on 13th July 1888 to John and Margaret Deering. While William was still young the family moved across to Western Australia and initially took up residence in the Goldfields. Unfortunately his father John died there in 1898 and his mother remarried and the family took up residence in 26 Little Howard Street South Fremantle.

William was working as a General labourer for a surveying company in Kalgoorlie when he enlisted into the AIF. On the 14th February 1915 William enlisted at the Kalgoorlie recruitment office and was accepted as fit.

The medical examiner recorded William's physical attributes as;

Height - 5 feet 5 & 1/2 inches tall;

Weight - 146lbs;

Chest Measurement - 36 inches;

Complexion - Dark;

Eyes - Brown;

Hair - Dark.

After his successful enlistment William was sent to Blackboy Hill Camp where he was immediately assigned to the 5th Reinforcements to the 11th Battalion AIF.

William had several weeks of training with this group in WA and on the 26th April 1915 his reinforcement group boarded the transport ship Hororata in Fremantle Harbour and set sail for Egypt. Just over three weeks later the ship arrived in Egypt and the men were disembarked and went into the training camp.

William did not have long in Egypt as he joined the 11th Battalion at Gallipoli on the 22nd June 1915. Just six days later William was badly wounded when shrapnel struck him through the shoulder and also his eye.

He was evacuated from the trenches to the field ambulance where medical assistance was given to him before he was sent out to the hospital ship Sicilia which was moored off the coast. William was then returned to Egypt where he was hospitalised at No.2 Australian General Hospital and the wounds operated on.

Due to the nature of the wounds it was clear that William's soldiering days were over, unfortunately his right eye could not be saved, and he was marked down to return to Australia. On the 29th August 1915 William boarded the transport ship Euripides and sailed for home, disembarking in Fremantle on the 1st October 1915.

William was then sent to No.8 Australian General Hospital in South Terrace Fremantle where his wounds were assessed. He stayed here for quite some time being discharged from the base hospital on the 3rd April 1916.

William was then granted a military pension

On his release from hospital William stayed with his parents in Fremantle for a time but then moved back to the Goldfields. In 1917 he married Jean Hendry in East Coolgardie.

Their first son William John Deering was born in North Fremantle in 1917. In 1918 Dorothy was born in Boulder and this was followed by Phyllis in 1920.

The family continued to live in the Goldfields through the 1920's and 30's. During World War Two, William's son served in the 2/3rd Machine Gun Battalion in the Middle East and Java, being taken prisoner of war by the Japanese. Fortunately he survived his prisoner of war ordeal.

William Deering died in Nedlands in 1979 aged 91.